A BC Transit bus went off the road and up onto a retaining wall near Southridge Drive in Castlegar Saturday morning.
Two passengers and the driver were on board at the time, but there were no injuries.
Trevor Stach, the general manager for the local BC Transit contractor — Trail Transit Services — confirmed that a black pickup truck had stopped in the middle of the road.
“He [the driver] swerved to avoid, and when he swerved to avoid the bus, lost traction and slid onto the wall,” said Stach.
“We were fortunate — it was a very experienced driver and he was not travelling fast for conditions, but conditions were poor,” he added.
Stach also said that the truck left the scene.
“But we were fortunate enough to catch the license plate number and it is my understanding that the RCMP are following up,” he explained.
There was an independent witness to the scene who was able to provide information about the incident, Stach said.
Another bus and driver were on site in about half an hour to finish the route. Two tow trucks were used to recover the bus, which then drove down the hill to be safely loaded onto a tow truck.
“There was some damage to the bus, and we will be dealing with ICBC on that,” said Stach.
Selkirk College student Sijo Jose was one of the passengers on board at the time of the accident. He was on his way to Nelson to celebrate his birthday.
Jose has only been in Castlegar for about a month and the winters here are much different from those he experienced in India.
“A black car was in the road on the wrong side … the bus had to motor up to the wrong side to avoid a collision,” explained Jose.
“The bus slipped away from the road and we had an accident. The reason was because of the car that was on the wrong side — the bus driver had to make the adjustment.”
“It was very scary, but I was not showing it outside,” said Jose. “I didn’t go anywhere else that day, I had to go back to my house. If something harmful had happened, it would be a very bad situation.”
Jose thought that the local authorities handled the situation very well. Neighbours from the area also helped out the passengers, giving Jose a ride to the Castlegar Community Complex.
He admits that he is a little more nervous now riding the bus.
“I always look around — to what is happening around. It is scary after something happens like this — you have to take extra precautions.”
